Top Tips For Booking Entertainment At Your Wedding | Wedding Magicians 2022
Slightly Unusual have provided thousands of wedding magicians to provide close up entertainment all across the country. Our magicians have years of experience under their belts and have the knowledge from first-hand experience on how to make sure all of your wedding guests have a fantastic experience while making sure you don't have to stress over anything entertainment related.
Top Tips For Booking Entertainment At Your Wedding | Wedding Magicians 2022
When booking entertainment there are a few things you need to take into consideration. Regardless of if you book us or another company, the following tips are the most important things you need to find out before settling on a final choice. We'll help you make the right decision and guarantee a fantastic magician for your wedding.
Check Their Experience
There are a lot of entertainers that have a full time job and just perform weekends to get a little extra cash. More often than not, these entertainers are less reliable as full time professionals who don't do anything else other than perform. If you have ever heard horror stories about entertainment not turning up, it's usually because they don't perform full time and something more important has come up. For your big day it really is important that you get an act with a lot of experience. Make sure you ask what experience an act has, whether they are full time and also what experience they have performing in the wedding industry.
Do They Have PLI?
PLI stands for Public Liability Insurance and it is vital that any act you book has this. A lot of venues these days will insist on seeing an act's PLI before they even allow them to set foot inside. Any professional act you book should be able to send you a copy of their PLI without problems. If they say they cannot then you really need to consider looking elsewhere. Magicians especially need PLI when they perform. A lot of magicians do tricks with fire and borrow objects off the spectators. Without PLI, if something went wrong then any losses or damages could not be claimed for.
Check To See If They Have A Showreel
Anyone can sound good but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Before you make any decision on who to book, ask to see their showreel. A showreel is a 2 to 3 minute video that showcases who the acts are and what they do. It allows you to see how good they are before you book them. If an act does not have a showreel do not book them - simple. Most good magic acts should have more than one showreel.
They should have a close up magic showreel and a stage show showreel as well. Make sure you ask to see both. You can always tell if an act performs a lot in the wedding market as they will have a wedding showreel specifically for weddings. If they have one of these it's a good sign that they are experienced in the wedding industry. When you get the showreel watch it carefully to make sure it was filmed at a live event or in their garage - this will help you decide how professional the act is.
Look At Their Reviews
Any act that has experience will have lots of reviews that they can send you. Ask to see testimonials from previous clients as this will really help decide how good an act is. Be wary of written testimonials these can (and frequently are) faked. Most professional acts will have video testimonials which are short 20 second videos with the bride and groom talking about how the act performed at their wedding. If an act does not have a selection of video reviews and testimonials that is normally not a good sign.
If in doubt ask the act for email addresses from previous clients that you can contact for testimonials. Most acts with any experience will be happy to send these to you. We have many clients that have said they are happy for new clients to contact them via email. Reviews are one of the best ways you have of judging an act's quality so make sure you look into this area carefully.
Examine Their Website
Any professional act should have a good quality website. If they cannot spend the money on a website advertising their business, how successful do you think they are? The website is a great way of checking experience, reviews and showreels all in one place. A lot of clients only spend a couple of minutes on an acts website, but if you spend time looking around it will give you a better idea of how good they are.
Make Sure Their Equipment Is PAT Tested
While this does not apply to close up magicians, for DJ's, Stage Shows and Singers / Bands it is vital. PAT stands for Portable Appliance Testing and it needs to be carried out every year on any portable equipment that needs plugging in. For example, speakers, amps, PA's etc. Most venues will request to see the certificate before the act arrives at the venue. Under no circumstances book an act that needs to plug equipment in that doesn't have a PAT test. There is no reason to not have one if an act is using electrical equipment.
Try To Watch A Live Performance Prior
Most acts will have other bookings that you can go and see them at. Even though most acts have mainly private bookings which you wouldn't be allowed to go to, there will be a number of public shows you can go and see. Watching an act live will really help you make your mind up as to how good they are and whether they are suitable for your wedding.
Secure Your Wedding Magician Now
The decision you will make for your wedding entertainment is an important one. Most brides upon reflection wish they had spent more money on entertainment at their wedding. With this in mind follow these simple tips and you won't go wrong. Slightly Unusual are here to help with our incredible close up magicians. All you need to do is visit our website using the banner below and fill in an enquiry form. Or call us directly on 0333 301 3001.
We look forward to providing wedding entertainment for you soon.
